Dixon's Tuesday Takeaways: CAA Race, Irish Take Over No. 1

What Happened: Notre Dame topped St. John's 10-7 and became the #1 team in the land

Takeaway: The Irish have not been particularly impressive lately but continue to win. What's more, this is a monumental achievement for a school that, as a lacrosse program, has had a long and impressive evolution. The first scholarships did not appear until the fall of 2001, and Notre Dame was not fully funded until 2006. The defense and goaltending in 2011 has been superb, and in the win over the Red Storm they welcomed back LSM Andrew Irving. He celebrated his return from an injury by scoring the first goal of the game. Middie David Earl is also heating up, netting three scores, giving him five goals in Notre Dame's last two games. Earl had a terrific NCAA Tournament a year ago and seems to be getting on track just at the right time. Two big tests loom for the Irish as they meet Syracuse and North Carolina to close out the regular season. Two losses could mean Notre Dame hits the road for the first round of the NCAAs.

What Happened: Duke topped Virginia 13-11

Takeaway: The Blue Devils have now taken 9 out of the last 10 from the Cavaliers, a stunning run when you consider the familiarity with one another in the ACC. Duke has done a great job of managing the peaks and valleys of a season. A modest losing skid is nothing compared to what this program has been through in the last few seasons. In a video preview of the game I said Duke needed veteran leadership and goaltending to win this one. They got both, as senior Zach Howell and junior Rob Rotanz were sensational, combining for eight points to lead the way. Netminder Dan Wigrizer shook off a tough start to make eight second half saves, including one in the closing minutes to preserve the victory. This balance will have to continue as they enter a rematch in the semis against Virginia in this weekend's ACC Tournament.

Bonus Takeaway: We saw just how much attackman Steele Stanwick means to this Virginia team. Stanwick missed the Duke contest with a foot injury and the Cavalier attack never really got going. Colin Briggs continues to impress in the midfield, and Chris LaPierre was strong as well, taking pressure off of the Brattons. But one area that has to get it together is the defense. Too porous to win a championship at this point, goalie Adam Ghitelman has played well lately but deserves better support. Something to look forward to for Virginia to look forward to- the lone win in the last 10 meeting with Duke came in last year's ACC semifinals.

What Happened: Syracuse lost to Cornell 11-6, beat Providence 13-3

Takeaway: A combination of things plagued the Orange against the Big Red. The absence of John Lade played a big role as Cornell playmaker Rob Pannell diced the Syracuse D for three goals and three assists. Lade also missed the Providence game, which has the Syracuse faithful worried about the severity of the injury to their top defenseman. The offensive woes continued too, with the attack not being able to create much and the midfield scoring depth remaining shallow. But this is still a very strong team and one that I would be surprised not to see in Baltimore for Championship Weekend. They will need more consistency in terms of scoring from their top middies and some semblance of a threat on their second line. Josh Amidon has been coming on as of late, with strong games against Princeton and Cornell. Bobby Eilers had a huge game against Providence and hopefully can continue to produce. The best offensive player thus far for the Orange has been attackman Stephen Keogh. He has been clutch and on target all year, but needs people to get him the ball to work his magic. If defenses can do what Cornell did to the senior finisher, Syracuse will be in trouble if other players cannot step up.

What Happened: Georgetown lost to Loyola, 6-5 in four overtimes.

Takeaway: At 5-6, Georgetown is certainly more on the outside of the proverbial playoff bubble than squarely on. In fact, they would not qualify with their losing record. The Hoyas, however, are still mathematically alive and have some opportunity coming up with two of their remaining three games against ranked teams in Yale and Villanova. At this point the Hoyas will have to beat both and hope for outside help. To do so, the Hoyas will have to have performances where both the offense and defense show up together. Early in the season the offense was clicking while the D could not stop anyone. Lately, the D has been good but the offense MIA. With no quality wins on the resume, Georgetown is in serious danger of not making the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season.

What Happened: Hopkins edged Maryland 12-11 in an overtime thriller.

Takeaway: A classic confrontation that had a little bit of everything. Maryland showed a lot of firepower jumping out to a nice lead at halftime, while the Blue Jays showed a lot of moxie coming back in the second half. Also impressed with the way the Terps fought to tie the score at 11 once Hopkins went up by two. Both teams showed a good deal of vulnerability on the defensive end, giving up interior goals and displaying sloppy clearing efforts. Despite this, these two teams delivered a classic on a damp, rainy night that was tough to play lacrosse.

Bonus Takeaway: A lot of questions regarding a call late in the fourth quarter that took the ball away from Maryland and gave it to Hopkins. According to people involved in the game, the explanation offered to the coaches was that Maryland was given a stall warning and threw the ball out of the box. After a brief delay in which the officials made certain the ball was not deflected by a Hopkins player, possession was given to the Blue Jays. The call was delay of game against the Terps, since they brought the ball out of the box on their own without it being touched by the defense.

b. Once a stalling warning has been issued it will remain in effect until:
1. The defensive team gains possession;
2. A goal is scored by the offensive team;
3. The period ends, resulting in a faceoff; or
4. The offensive team causes the ball to go outside the attack goal area and
touches the ball before the defensive team gains possession. In this case
a stalling violation is called, and the defensive team is awarded the ball.
Note: A team in possession of the ball in the attack goal area, after it has been
warned to “keep it in,” cannot be penalized for stalling unless it causes the ball
to go outside the attack goal area.
c. Once a warning has been issued, a stalling violation will be called if the ball
comes out of the attack goal area in any manner, except for the following:
1. A shot by the offensive team; or
2. A loose ball leaves the attack area after last being touched (or deflected)
by the defensive team.

What Happened: North Carolina downed Lehigh 15-8

Takeaway: Nice solid win for the Tar Heels, who defeated Presbyterian earlier in the week as well. Big positive is that the defense is playing well, a good sign since this time last season is when the defensive swoon started for Carolina. Up next is a tough rematch in the ACC semis this weekend against Maryland. Can the Tar Heels repeat their masterful performance against the Terps from a couple of weeks ago?

What Happened: The Colonial Athletic Association has four teams going for three spots

Takeaway: Delaware leads the pack and has sewn up a berth in the conference tournament, followed by Hofstra, UMass, Penn State, and Drexel. Huge game this coming Saturday as Hofstra and UMass square off while Delaware entertains the Nittany Lions. The Blue Hens can take another step closer to the #1 seed with a win. Towson, CAA title game finalists the past two seasons, has been eliminated from contention but could play spoiler. A win this weekend over Drexel will knock the Dragons out of the race.

What Happened: Play continues to be tight in the Ivy League

Takeaway: Cornell scores the big win of the week out of conference by clobbering Syracuse, but several other Ivy teams got the job done in conference. Penn got back in the win column over Harvard, Princeton scored another W, and Yale brought Brown back down to earth. With two weeks left in the regular season, all seven teams are still alive for the conference tournament.

What Happened: High hits continued to be called

Takeaway: There is no getting around it. The Rules Committee, coaches, and officials have all made the safety of the players even more of the highest priority this year. But how are the penalties evaluated and the time to be served determined? The goal is to be as consistent as possible and discourage dangerous, illegal hits to the head and neck area. While there is no cut and dry direction written in the rule book, several crews I have spoken with and worked on follow these criteria:
1) If a check starts clean and ends up high and illegal (think chest to head/neck area), one minute non-releasable.
2) If a high check results in a player getting injured, two minute non-releasable.
3) If a high check starts illegal and ends that way (intentional helmet to helmet, under chin, etc.), two to three minute non-releasable.

Mark Dixon covers lacrosse for WMAR-TV in Baltimore and on the ESPN Family of Networks. You can reach Mark at Dixon@insidelacrosse.com.